Compliment people when they’re not around. When it reaches them, it counts double.

Praise said to someone’s face can always be read as politeness. Praise that travels has no such explanation, because you had nothing to gain by saying it. When it reaches them, and it usually does, they learn something about how you talk when they cannot hear you. That is the part that changes how much they trust you.

Say one genuine thing about someone this week while they are not in the room. Do it without any expectation that it gets back, because that is the whole point.